Showing results by publisher "BBC Audio" in Literature & Fiction

A unique collection of 12 full-cast BBC Radio productions of plays by Alan Bennett. The titles are: 40 Years On, A Visit from Miss Prothero, Say Something Happened, Kafka's Dick, Two in Torquay, The Madness of George III, The History Boys, An Englishman Abroad, A Question of Attribution, The Lady in the Van, Cocktail Sticks and The Last of the Sun.

Freema Agyeman, Reggie Yates, Adjoah Andoh and Will Thorp are the readers of these eight original stories featuring the 10th Doctor and Martha, as played on TV by David Tennant and Freema Agyeman. The titles are; Sting of the Zygons by Stephen Cole, The Last Dodo by Jacqueline Rayner, Wooden Heart by Martin Day, Forever Autumn by Mark Morris, Wetworld by Mark Michalowski, Sick Building by Paul Magrs, The Pirate Loop by Simon Guerrier, and Peacemaker by James Swallow.

Psychotherapist Martha is reasonably compassionate, but deep down she's losing patience. It seems all her clients want to be something they are not, and it's driving them (and her) out of their minds. Across a series of 15-minute comedy vignettes, How Does that Make You Feel? offers a fly-on-the-wall view of Martha’s sessions, each one shedding more light on the lives of her entertaining clients. Starring Frances Tomelty, Roger Allam, Marcella Riordan, Tim McInnerny, Cathy Belton and Rebecca Saire. Produced and directed by Eoin O’Callaghan.

The Man in Black is waiting to make your acquaintance. Maybe you’ll meet him on a bus, in the supermarket or at an airport luggage carousel. Perhaps he’ll peer into your baby’s pram or approach you in the corridor of a care home. Wherever you encounter him, he's eager to pass on his stories. Stories of darkness and death, myth and madness. Stories to unsettle and horrify.

After the death of her GP husband, widow Sarah is battling to bring up her strong-willed 18-year-old daughter, Clare, hindered by her meddling mother, Eleanor. Living on the middle floor of the family home, with Clare downstairs and Eleanor upstairs, Sarah finds herself besieged from above and below as she tries to cope with the demands of both her mum and her daughter. Luckily, she finds solace at work, where her best friend and boss at Bygone Books, Russell, provides a sympathetic ear.

All four series of the hilarious historical sitcom set just before and during the American Revolution. Baltimore, 1770, and shopkeeper Samuel Oliphant has much to worry about. Storm clouds are gathering, business is bad and to make matters worse, he’s been forced to play host to two British soldiers. Hapless officer Captain Brimshaw is decent enough, but his fellow redcoat - the one-eyed, one-eared, one-armed and one-legged Sergeant McGurk - is a shameless rascal obsessed with money and sex.

Bill and Faith are both divorcees, late in love but new to each other. As they battle to forge a relationship together, they discover that the course of true love doesn’t always run smoothly. In these 31 episodes, they move in together, plan a wedding and deal with the challenges of married life – all the while trying to balance the demands of Bill’s ex-wife, Liza, and her teenage children, Hannah and Joe. 

Welcome to Flamford, the town sanity forgot. Edgy, sharp-tongued City burn-out Andy Chambers has been advised, for the sake of his health, to take a break from his stressful London lifestyle and get some rest. So he goes to stay with his estranged uncle, Jeff Whitaker, at his seaside home in Flamford - but, as he soon discovers, living with his relative is far from relaxing.

The first six series of the popular radio drama set in a Manchester legal practice, starring David Schofield. Frank Twist and Sarah Gold lead a maverick team of freelance paralegals operating in the mean(ish) streets of Manchester. Their agency operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, dispatching legal representatives to set free burglars, muggers and even some innocent people who find themselves on the wrong side of a cell door.

Meet Clare Barker, the social worker who likes nothing more than sorting out other people's problems (while failing to deal with her own). Wracked with guilt over being white, middle-class and heterosexual, she has a dedicated social conscience (unless it's inconvenient for her) and lives to interfere in other people's lives—both on a personal and professional basis. Bearing the brunt of her control freakery and lack of self-awareness are her family, colleagues and long-suffering teacher partner, Brian—all of whom have their own frustrations, disappointments and dramas.

After a lifetime spent in public relations, one-woman dynamo Agatha Raisin struggles to adapt to life in a quiet country village - but she soon finds that there is murder and mayhem aplenty to keep her busy. Among the cases she has to deal with are a poisoned quiche; a vet who has been ‘put to sleep’; a hanged horticulturist; a murdered rambler and a curate who meets his Maker somewhat sooner than expected.

Renowned for his wit, style and sophistication, Noël Coward was one of the greatest playwrights of the 20th century. His plays, set in the glittering world of high society in which he lived, are much admired and have remained in the popular theatre repertoire to this day. This collection brings together the very best radio adaptation

Sir John Woodstock (James Fleet) is the Lord of the Castle and basically in charge of keeping order in the ramshackle medieval village. Although he hates all that torturing and usually lets the peasants off with a bit of community service. He lives in his huge but slightly falling down castle (but then it was built by the French, so what can one expect) with his daughter Anne (Martha Howe-Douglas) and very teenage son Henry (Steven Kynman). Anne’s best friend Charlotte (Ingrid Oliver) nearly always joins Anne on her constant quest to find fit men in the village. 

A onetime Crusader turned Benedictine monk, Brother Cadfael is a most unusual detective. Living a quiet life as a monastery herbalist, he spends his days ministering to his brothers using the medical skills he acquired in the Holy Lands—but his worldly knowledge and wide experience of human nature are frequently called upon when there is a murder to solve....

Jessica Raine stars in all four BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisations of John Galsworthy's Forsyte novels. An irresistible family saga of love, money and betrayal, The Forsytes: The Complete Series encompasses four acclaimed BBC Radio 4 productions of Galsworthy's perennially popular epic, spanning 50 years from 1886 to 1936.

Freeloading freelancer Ed Reardon is back, and still trying to survive in a world where the media seems to be run by idiots and lying charlatans. Success continues to eludes him, but at least he can eke out a living teaching creative writing, condensing modern classics and doing a spot of celebrity ghostwriting.

Wilkie Collins was one of Victorian England's best-loved and best-selling authors, and a crime-fiction pioneer. His enthralling 'sensation novels' such as The Woman in White paved the way for today's thrillers and his tour de force The Moonstone is one of the first, and greatest, modern-detective stories. This collection features dramatisations of these two masterpieces, with star casts including Toby Stephens (The Woman in White) and John Sharp (The Moonstone). Also included are adaptations of three of Collins' other major novels.

Aspiring actor Robert is always on the look out for work, and isn’t too fussy about what he takes. Chauffeur, prison performer, children’s TV, part-time teacher - he’ll take it all, and one day he’ll be famous. Maybe the next job will be his big breaK. From the writer behind The Vicar of Dibley, this lively comedy stars John Gordon Sinclair, Caroline Quentin, Gary Waldhorn and Gina McKee.

All four series of the Eastern bloc embassy sitcom starring Dinsdale Landen. Set in a British embassy somewhere in Russia as the Cold War draws to a close, this entertaining sitcom follows Her Majesty's Ambassador Mr Mackenzie as he navigates the idiosyncrasies of life behind the Iron Curtain. Together with his first secretary, William Frost, and personal assistant Helen Waterson, he manages matters ranging from dissidents to diplomatic dinners, all while maintaining his urbane, unflappable demeanour. 

In 2023 John Finnemore and the Souvenir Programme team returned to Radio 4 with a new format – annual, one-off, 45-minute Specials. Some are in the style of Series 1-8, with sketches, jokes and songs, while others are more discursive and experimental, like Series 9. Collected together here, they all feature his trusty ensemble cast of Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Simon Kane, Lawry Lewin and Carrie Quinlan.